Undefeated Saints push past Coe-Brown

NORTHWOOD — Very little seems to ruffle the St. Thomas High School volleyball team.

Not even an eight-point deficit.

The undefeated Saints swept past Coe-Brown in Division II action Monday. They won by game scores of 25-23, 25-16 and 26-24. The Bears slipped to 3-2.

STA came back from a 10-2 deficit in the third game to win. They were still down 16-9 before the serving of Regina Mastrobattista and Alison Coffey sparked an 11-2 run to put them ahead, 20-18. Mastrobattista served for four points and Coffey added five, while Cecilia Chrisom had five kills, including two nice place shots to vacant Coe-Brown space.

The Saints (5-0) got the lead to 23-20, but the Bears came back to tie the game at 24-all, thanks in part to two kills from Liz Peabody.

However, STA successfully closed out the match with back-to-back kills by Chelsey Puffer and Mastrobattista.

"We came out a little slow in the third game," said Cecilia Chrisom. "I'm not sure why. We weren't talking. But we don't give up. We dug our way out."

Cecilia Chrisom had a superb match with 21 kills and 13 digs for STA, including 12 kills in Game 3. Her hitting game was an effective mixture of hard hits and well-placed touches to open floor. Chelsey Puffer added 23 assists, and Maria Chrisom played a strong defensive game with 32 digs.

"We paid attention to their defense and played according to how they were playing," Coffey added. "We hit the open spots."

Liz Peabody had nine kills for the Bears, followed by Emma Easler with five, Sadie Steffen with 16 assists, and Debbie Peabody added 28 digs.

"We had a good lead and I thought we were going to take that one," said Coe-Brown coach Rick Veno. "We made some mistakes and they capitalized on it. They came back strong and unfortunately we didn't shut them down."

The first game proved to be a key moment in this match. STA held a 14-8 lead, but the Bears came all the way back to take the lead, 19-18, on a kill by Abigail Ahern.

The game was then tied three more times before the Saints took the lead for good on a kill by freshman MacKenzie Geppert at 22-21. Mastrobattista's ace made it 23-21.

Coe-Brown cut the lead to one on a kill by Easler (23-22). St. Thomas answered with a kill by Coffey to make it 24-22.

An STA hitting error made it a one-point game, but the Saints were able to win the game on the next serve on a kill by Emma Keane.

"We expected to take that first game and we were really driving for that first game," coach Veno said. "We had a good game plan. Unfortunately they got a lot of breaks on tip balls that we didn't get to, that we didn't pick up. After we lost that first game, it took the wind out of our sails a little bit. It took us a while to get back into it. We didn't quit, but we didn't come back either."

STA went up early in Game 2, 9-2, 13-4 and 17-7, and cruised to a 25-16 win. Seven kills from Cecilia Chrisom were instrumental in the win. Mastrobattista served for six straight points early in the game to turn a 1-1 game into a 7-1 lead.

"We play one point at a time," added STA coach Kristie Holtz. "We did have some errors in the third game. ... But if they can make a run, so can we. The game's not over. It's one point at a time and it's a long game — 25 points.